The International Association of Insurance Supervisors is developing a risk-based global insurance capital standard that is designed to provide transparency and comparability of insurers across jurisdictions. By Kerry-Anne Forster and Matthew Brinckmann Over the past four years the wave of regulatory change that has hit the global insurance industry seems to be refusing to break.…
An organisation’s approach to occupying real estate impacts not only on the occupier, but on consumers, employees and landlords. An integrated real estate strategy can present real benefits to an occupier, while posing both opportunities and risks to investors. By Ilse French and Philip Dennison To translate the impact of local and global trends into…
I sit around board room tables every week helping companies to reason on what constitutes the most appropriate black equity partner. One thing they all agree on is that the biggest risk lies not in the corporate structure itself or even the terms and conditions of the transaction, but in who the future partner should…
Being courageous Editor’s letter When asked to define the ideal leader, many of us would highlight qualities such as intelligence, strength, determination, and vision – all the qualities typically associated with leadership. Often forgotten, or completely left off the list, are softer, more personal skills, but they are also essential. Although a certain degree of…
I recently came across research by Dr Felienne Hermans that got me thinking. She had the opportunity to analyse 16 000 spreadsheets from within Enron, and her research highlighted some uncomfortable facts on spreadsheets. There is a repository of spreadsheets that researchers use as a data point. It contains spreadsheets from a variety of sources,…
Are you fit enough for your board’s marathon, asks Julanie Basson Ask any runner standing at the start of a 42 km marathon and they will tell you the fitter and better prepared you are, the easier the gruelling race will be. Many runners, including me, have attempted to run a marathon very well knowing…
It is said that hard work and discipline lead to self-mastery. In this article, I share those habits that have shaped me into the speaker I am today. Habit 1: Never turn down stage time! Regardless, if you are presenting to two or 200 people, every audience is there to shape and groom you. If…
Oh, how a picture (which is worth more than a thousand words) can change depending on the type of frame you put it in. The same applies to the decisions we make. Framing is how we make sense of the world. By framing situations we are able to make sense of the world, without which,…
Golden handshakes seem to be becoming increasingly popular at the moment. The Oxford Dictionary defines a golden handshake as ‘a payment given to someone who has been made redundant or retires early’. The term ‘golden handshake’ is not defined in the Income Tax Act. A ‘severance benefit’ is defined in section 1 of the Act.…
In business, there’s a story that lives on about a mistake once made by Sheryl Sandberg, former Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google – not because of the error itself, but because of co-founder Larry Page’s response. When Sandberg realised she’d made a bad decision that would cost the company millions…